I'm disapointed in us.

[cowiz]

Rum, why so soft?

He's mellowing in his retirement

[Mysturji]

Yes I am.

All this rapture nonsense and we have made a massive deal out of it.

As atheists who know it was all bullshit we should have simply ignored it andlaughed our arses off instead of giving it so much over the top attention.

Did people really think there was just the tiniest chance there was something in it or something? It has been a bit like hysterical laughter in the face of adversity here this last day or two.

Just sayin'

Sorry, I thought that's what we were doing...
Together.
Like.
You know.
Kind of thing.

[Pappa]

Did people really think there was just the tiniest chance there was something in it or something?

[Ironclad]

I see value in ridiculing the ridiculous. I can't wait for Dec. 12 2012!

Yeh but that's when we all actually frikkin die for real. That's not funny at all ffs. This naked rapture thing, it's not a bastard joke.

Look -->

[Ironclad]

..allegedly.

Thank Christ for spellchecker!

[Robert_S]

I have seen raptures come and go, but none so widely publicized.

I think the response was entirely appropriate since it will be harder for the vulnerable to turn to such easy solutions next time. Especially since many people seem to fear massive, sustained and justified ridicule more than death.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Pointing out the stupidity of this nonsense will hopefully make people think twice next time, instead of just rushing out blindly selling their belongings and killing their kids.

Anyone who will now be suffering mental trauma from having their beliefs dashed on the rocks, I have no sympathy for.

And it was prolly these very people who went apeshit over Stephen Hawking's claim there is no heaven.


http://www.timesunion.com/default/artic ... 390347.php

"I had some skepticism, but I was trying to push the skepticism away because I believe in God,"

lulz!

[DRSB]

I did not give the matter any attention, if that's of interest to you.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

I did not give the matter any attention, if that's of interest to you.

You are always of interest to us, Deersbee.

[DRSB]

Oh, thank you DSI!

[Feck]

It should be beneath a Rational Atheist to pay any attention to this, never mind enjoy the mockery ...... glad I'm just a loony who hates Theists because I'm having a great larf .

[Rum]

Rum, why so soft?

I made the OP to be a little provocative to be honest, but also I was a bit fed up with the issue dominating the forum. After I posted the OP though I thought a little about how I felt about the whole prophesy thing and I recalled two experiences where I deeply feared the end of the world. The first was totally man-made and was the days building up to the Cuban missile crisis. I was only a kid of nine or 10 but most people thought there was going to be a nuclear war between the West and the USSR. It was hair-raisingly scary.

The second was when I was mixed up with a crazy guru cult in the early 70s and lived in an ashram for six months or so. Guru Maharaj Ji (linky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prem_Rawat) developed a huge following of burnt out acid heads, hippies with no direction and other gullible people, including me at the time. I don't even know if he made the prophesy, but it became accepted as part of the deal anyway - and that was that the world would 'end' a few years hence and that Guru Maharaj Ji would then become the leader of the world (I know, I know!..but that the sort of thing cults do!)

I escaped the clutches of the cult by sneaking out one morning before anyone was up for their meditation and was taken in by an old art college female friend, with who I lived (and slept with shortly after) for a year or so.

Although I left the movement because I realised it was utter claptrap, I was emotionally messed up by the experience and although it was totally illogical I lived with the fear that the prophesy might be right up until the last day of the predicted year. I developed a feeling of dread about it and it became part of a period in my 20s where, recovering from that, too much LSD and dope etc. I think I was probably borderline psychotic for a while.

Soooo..this sort of thing (the rapture) kind of stirs all of that up. It is why I have not contributed to much of the posting, though I did a bit, and why I started this thread I think.

[Thinking Aloud]

I convinced myself I would die age 32. I spent much of 2004-2005 with a nagging feeling that it might actually happen. And then I turned 33. (Not quite the same scale, I know, but...)

[normal]

Yes, I remember that story, Rum.

But raptures are hilarious, and the next one will also be great!

[JimC]

This event has been one more, widely publicised example of the absurdity of religious delusion, and has probably nudged the zeitgeist in the western world just that little more in the direction of sceptical dismissal of all things religious...

Not particularly unhappy to see the enemy shooting themselves in the foot...